A Sense I Never Knew I Had
by killedwitha.BusterSword
Summary: Clerith -- Cloud? Scared of heights?


_**"Puff, the magic dragon...lived by the sea...lalalalalalala..."**_

**That song's so nostalgic. Anyway, here is another one. And I did this in one seating. HA! So it's not really perfect. :)) So...yeah. Hope you'll like it. :)) **

** EDIT: I corrected some errors. :))  
**

**---xoxo---xoxo---xoxo--- **

"No, Aerith, please!" he pleaded as she pulled on his arm towards the Gondola ride, his other hand clinging on the railing for resistance. "Aerith, no!"

"Cloud!"—pull—"be"—pull—"a"—pull—"man!!!"

"No! Do you want me to _die_?!"

She sighed angrily and stomped her feet on the concrete floor. "Damn it, Cloud! You're being"—pull—"so"—pull—"difficult!!!"

The girl at the counter stared incredulously. Aerith suddenly felt self-conscious. She let go of Cloud and watched him crouch down and hold his stomach. He looked _dead_. She couldn't help but laugh.

He threw an angry glare at her. "What?"

A mischievous grin crept on her lips. She leaned forward suspiciously, her face inches away from his. "No wonder you looked so pale before entering this station."

He stuck his tongue out and pouted. So childish, she thought.

She shook her head sympathetically and reached a hand out. "C'mon."

He stared at her hand. _Was she crazy?_ "But I—"

"Don't worry," she interrupted, "I'm here."

He didn't make a move.

"Please…? It's time you got over that phobia."

He groaned, a clear sign that he gave in. "…Okay, fine…!"

A giggle escaped her lips at the coldness of his hand. She could feel him shaking under her touch. _Poor Cloud… _"Be strong." She whispered when they entered the cable car.

**---xoxo---xoxo---xoxo---**

"Oh, God." he chanted, his head leaning backwards against the wooden ledge of the ride, his eyes closed tightly. He was almost hyperventilating. "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God…"

"Cloud, relax…you sound like you're having a _heart attack_!" she laughed.

"What if I am?!" he retorted, his head shooting up from his leaning position. He gasped at the sight of the golden statue of Dio outside the window, and closed his eyes again, shaking his leg wildly in the process. "I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'M GONNA DIE!!! Aerith, I still have to kill Sephiroth!!!"

Aerith ignored him, and just held his hand despite how sweaty his palm was getting. She was distracted by the astounding view before her.

Streaks of yellow and blue shot up from the many spotlights around Gold Saucer, fireworks in reds and greens illuminated the dark night sky along with the round white moon.

A groan came from Cloud's direction, and she looked at him questioningly. A hand was over his still closed eyes, and he was shaking more than he was before they entered. "Cloud, it's alright, I'm here…"

"I can't…I'm gonna…faint…" he murmured, sweat dripping from the sides of his face. "Help…me…"

She laughed softly. "Cloud, it's not so bad. C'mon. Take a look. Just a peek. It's completely harmless…"

"No, I'm gonna fall…!"

"Of course not! Don't be silly." She reassured. "I promise. And you're missing out a lot!"

She slowly took his hand away from his face, and turned his head to her direction with her palm against his cold, damp cheek. "Open your eyes, otherwise you won't be able to see _anything_." She teased.

He gulped and slowly opened his eyes and met with her green ones. Fear was so evident on his mako blue pools, and he looked like he was on the brink of tears. She smiled at him, and it seemed to ease him a little. His breathing was deep and even, and she could feel his pulse jumping against his wrist. "It's really pretty…" she finally said before she would drown in his beautiful orbs.

"But…I'm really scared…" he whispered.

"Really, there's nothing to be afraid of!" she looked down from the window for demonstration, and back at him again. "I didn't _die_, did I?"

He pouted again. She rolled her eyes. "Just peek. Nothing's gonna happen. Swear."

And with a final sigh, he slowly turned towards the window, and gulped. _1…2…3! _

He felt the blood drain from his face and screamed, "HOLY MOTHER OF--!!! MOMMY!!!" unconsciously turning back to Aerith and throwing his arms around her frail body, too shocked for her to even take in what just happened. She just felt his strong arms hanging on for dear life. The blood immediately rushed to her cheeks. "Cloud, you're…"

He was shaking furiously, and his panting got faster and faster by the minute. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, and by the 9th exhale did he only realize that he was crushing Aerith against himself. He stopped and pulled away as fast as his breathing was earlier, his flushed face so obvious now. "I'm so sorry I-I…I got…I panicked…I-I…"

She stared at her hands on her lap, her face as red as the fireworks display. "I-It's okay…"

Silence fell upon them, and she cleared her throat after a while. "Cloud…are you alright?"

She faced him and a small smile appeared on her lips. He was back to his leaning position, and he was relaxed now. She moved closer to him, and leaned her head against his shoulder, and took his hand on her own again. He didn't seem to mind at all, and even leaned his head against hers. "I'm sorry if I insisted on you looking out the window…I just wanted you to get over your fear…"

"It's okay…" he replied softly against her hair. He seemed to take comfort of their position. "It's the thought that counts, right?"

They both laughed at that.

"Mmm…how'd you get that, anyway?" she asked, turning her head to brush her lips against his shoulder.

"It's kind of…embarrassing…"

"Aw, it's okay. I won't laugh."

"No, you would, I'm sure of it. You can laugh, if you want to…" he said.

"Okay."

"You remember the well back in Nibelheim?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Well…my mom used to make me jump from that...and she'd catch me from below." He paused for a moment before looking troubled. She rubbed her thumb along the back of his hand and waited.

"There was this one time where she didn't catch me." he shuddered at the bitter memory, and just as expected, Aerith burst out laughing. "Hey, that hurt, you know! I had to spend a week in the clinic because of that fracture, and 3 months in a cast."

"Oh…my…" She had tears in her eyes, clutching her stomach in pain. "Cloud…you fell…!!!"

He groaned under his breath, and muttered things that sounded like a string of profanities..

Her laughter died down at his infuriated expression. "Cloud, I'm so sorry…" she wiped the stray tears from her eyes. "I really am…"

"No, it's alright."

"No it's not. You still look pissed."

"I'm fine." He snapped.

"Hey, that's unfair! You said I could laugh!"

"I did."

She was surprised to see a smile on his face.

"But you're not allowed to tell anybody." he said. "Okay?"

"Not tell anybody that you almost had seizure and how you screamed for your mom like a girl?" she teased, imitating the way he called for his mother. "'Mommy!!!'"

"I did NOT scream like a girl!" he hissed.

"Maybe you didn't, but you still shouted for your MOM!" she laughed even more. "Way to go, _tough_ SOLDIER!"

Once the ride ended, Aerith sprinted on her feet to run out of the car, and stuck her tongue out playfully. "I'm telling the whole world about your scream in 5…4…3…"

"AERITH!!!" he ran after her, surprisingly not annoyed by her endless teasing, and tickled her sides when he caught up with her.

She laughed so hard, her face turned beet red, it almost made her dizzy. "Stop…stop!" she panted. "I surrender…!"

"Oh yeah..?!" he scoffed sarcastically, an amused smile unable to leave his thin, pale lips.

"YES!" she screamed, slapping Cloud's arms as hard as she can to free from his stronghold. Her lungs were running out of oxygen. "I CAN'T…BREATHE!!! Someone help me!"

He laughed with her, but his hands still rubbing her ribcage furiously. "Who's _dying_ now?!"

"CLOOOUUUD!!!"

It came to a stop at the scream through their laughter.

"Are you still gonna black mail me?" he asked, grinning widely at the sight of Aerith all tomato red in the face. "Or did you want that to happen again?"

"No…No more…" she panted. "Please…"

He half-grinned sheepishly. "See? I'm easy to talk to."

"Oh, whatever…!" she replied sarcastically. "At least I didn't scream for my mom like a baby!"

He scowled. "You're really testing my patience, aren't you?"

"Oh my God, it was a joke!" she teased, linking her arms with his and pulled him to the Main Station entrance hole. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head and smiled again. "Unbelievable…"

A big toothy smile made its way on her full, pink lips. "Hmm…" she sighed as she looked around for another station to go to. And something caught her eye.

She abruptly stopped walking and skipped to the hole, smiling sheepishly at the curious Cloud. "Hey…let's go to the Speed Square!"

His mouth hung open. _She wasn't gonna give up, was she...?_

**---xoxo---xoxo---xoxo--- **

** Cloud's so cute. :( HAHA:))  
**


End file.
